Wormhole
by Metal K
Summary: I suck at summarys. Just read the story and R&R.
1. A Slippery Customer

Just to get this cleared up: I own nothing. Enjoy!

One: A Slippery Customer 

"Captain's log stardate 49712.5. The Enterprise has discovered a wormhole in the Arinis sector, in a class 4 nebula. From our current readings, our scientists believe that we may have discovered the second stable wormhole known to exist."

Captain Picard sat in the centre chair of the Enterprise, impatient to know what the readings from the wormhole were.

Commander Riker smiled.

"You seem tense, captain. I thought you didn't like boring, scientific missions, because the Enterprise is too important a ship in the fleet to waste time on charting nebulas."

"Yes," Picard answered. "But if this is a stable wormhole, then it could give us a tactical advantage against the Dominion. We could find allies from places like the Delta Quadrant, if the wormhole goes that far."

"Captain," Data interrupted from Ops. "Astronomics reports that they have gathered enough information to confirm their original theory that this is a stable wormhole, but they cannot predict where the wormhole will open up on the other side. The only way to find out is to send a probe or a ship through."

"Very well." Picard said. "Prepare a class 1 probe, get it to send out standard Federation greetings."

"Aye sir."

Riker's commbadge chirped. He tapped it.

"Riker here."

"Commander, I believe it's time for your physical examination." Came the voice of Beverly Crusher.

Riker raised his eyebrows.

"Uh, I think Data just picked up something on scanners. The examination will have to wait."

"Belay that, Doctor." Picard smiled. "Commander Riker is on his way."

Riker grinned back.

"I guess I can't put it off any longer." Riker stood up and started to walk towards the turbolift.

"Launching probe." Data announced.

Riker was just about to open the turbolift doors, when Data said,

"Sir, communication from the probe has failed."

Riker stopped, looking round at Captain Picard, pleadingly.

"Number One, do I need to relieve you of duty before you will leave the bridge?"

Riker sighed, and walked into the turbolift.

Picard turned back to Data.

"Cause?"

"Unknown, sir. Just before the probe stopped transmitting, a multiphasic disruption was detected."

"Could it have been weapons fire?"

"Unless it is a type of weapon we are not familiar with, I do not think so sir. A ship that would fire weapons within a wormhole must have a quite deranged commander."

"Indeed." Picard agreed. "Send another probe."

"Aye, sir. Launching probe."

The probe was seen to enter the wormhole on the main viewer. Five minutes later...

"Sir, the second probe has stopped transmitting."

Picard frowned. This was very unusual.

"Take the Enterprise through the wormhole. Notify Starfleet Command. Hopefully our shields will bee able to protect us against whatever is in there."

The Enterprise went through the opening of the wormhole, and disappeared as it closed.

Suddenly, the bridge shook.

"What was that?"

"We appear to have passed through a multiphasic rift. Sir, we are receiving transmissions from the probes. One has exited the wormhole, and one is nearing the end."

The Enterprise exited the wormhole a few minutes later.

"Data, what is our position?"

"Unknown sir. No star systems within this sector are recognizable."

"Captain," the Tactical officer, Ensign Burke, interrupted. "Sensors are picking up a ship approaching our co-ordinates. Configuration, unknown."

Picard stood up.

"Hail them."

"Hailing frequencies open."

"This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise. We have come here by means of a wormhole we have found. We are on a mission of peaceful exploration."

The view screen flickered to a completely black background with a pair of white glowing eyes in the centre. Picard raised his eyebrows. Clearly this mysterious person did not wish to be identified.

"Slim Cognito's my name, upgrading's my game. Whether you want weapons, shields, or a new hyperspace module, we'll fix you up quickly, cheaply, and most important, quietly."

The slick tone this person used reminded Picard of dealing with Ferengi.

"We wish to contact any important governments within this quadrant. We hope to conduct peaceful negotiations."

"I can put you in touch with Megacorp. I'll even throw in some maps of this sector. For a price, of course."

"That depends. What do you use for currency?"

"Bolts, what else?"

"We don't trade in bolts. But we are willing to let you replicate some of our ships systems. Our holodecks for example. Mister Burke, transmit all information on our holographic capabilities."

"Aye, sir."

The eyes on screen looked down, presumably at a console, and widened in surprise.

"I'm sure we can come to some agreement." Slim said.

Picard smiled. "Excellent."

"I am transmitting co-ordinates to my...er...base of operations. There you may collect whatever you need to contact Megacorp."

"Thank You, Mr Cognito. We will proceed immediately. Picard out."

The screen returned to Slim Cognito's ship in space.

"Helm, set a course for the base, warp five."

"Aye, sir."

Data turned to look at Captain Picard.

"Sir, could Mr Cognito be a Ferengi?"

"It is possible, though he did seem shocked by the holographic technology we gave him. I am sure a Ferengi alone in this part of space would at least recognize the technology."

"Coming up on the base sir."

Picard frowned. "That was fast."

"Sir, the co-ordinates Mr. Cognito gave us were only a light-year from our previous position."

"The base seems to be an asteroid with numerical underground structures and a space port on the surface." Data reported.

"Take us into the spaceport." Picard ordered.

"Captain, an unidentified ship is coming in orbit of the asteroid." Burke reported.

"On screen"

A small, blue ship with a white stripe going lengthways painted on it appeared on screen.

"We are being hailed."

"Open a channel. This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise."

A tall, pink skinned man in blue uniform appeared on screen.

"This is the police ship Gunga. I hereby place you under arrest."


	2. Confrontation

Hello again! Sorry about the shortness of the last chapter, but I'll make up for it here. I still own nothing.

Two: Confrontation 

Captain Picard stood up.

"For what reason are we under arrest?"

The pink skinned man tilted his head, confused.

"For participating in criminal activities, of course."

"We were not aware that we were breaking any rules. We are new to this region of space." Picard said.

"You are in the Bogon Galaxy, and are in violation of Detron 5's Criminal Conspiracy contract, section 3, paragraph 8. 'All newcomers to this region of space must register with the Detron officials, otherwise they will be persecuted.'"

"We have never heard of the Bogon Galaxy or of Detron 5. We came here by means of a wormhole we found, and it could be that we have travelled from a completely different galaxy." Picard explained.

"That still does not explain why you were conspiriting with Slim Cognito, wanted for fraud, illegal weapons and upgrades import and not registering with the Detron 5 officials."

"We believed he was a simple trader, and only wished to buy Star Charts and maps of this quadrant. We gave him design specifics on our Holographic technology..."

"What?!" The Police officer bellowed. "Giving criminals higher technology than even Megacorp has is extreme violation of Detron 5's Criminal Conspiracy contract, section 1, paragraph..."

"Yes, Yes." Picard interrupted. We will retrieve the technology from Slim as soon as he arrives. In fact, he is due here in a few minutes. Picard out." The screen returned to a starry background and the Police ship orbiting the asteroid base.

Minutes passed. Slim did not arrive. An hour passed.

"This is most unusual." Picard said, frowning. "A ship that could have travelled that far from space must have some warp capabilities."

"Sir," Data said from the helm. "I am not detecting any warp drive on board the Police ship. I did not on Mr Cognito's ship, either, but I assumed it was a sensor malfunction. However, I have run a diagnostic on the sensors, and they are working perfectly."

Picard sat up.

"Are you saying these people have no warp capability?"

"It is possible."

"But they are space faring."

"They could have developed thrusters and impulse power, and gone space faring like that."

"They would be limited to this sector at most."

"Yes Sir."

"Data, we have just violated the Prime Directive."

"I do not believe so Sir."

Picard stood up and walked over to Data's station. "Oh?"

"The Prime Directive states that no one of the Federation can interfere with non-space faring species. It does not say anything about species that are space faring and do not have warp capabilities."

At that moment, Riker walked out of the turbolift.

"Did I miss anything?" He asked innocently.

"Number One, will you join me in my Ready Room?" Picard asked and walked in, not waiting for an answer. Riker followed.

Picard explained the situation.

"So," Riker sat down. "We have violated the Prime Directive, we have conspirited with criminals, they'll have every Bounty Hunter in this sector looking for us."

"Indeed, and Starfleet Command won't like it either"

"Yes. We will have to face them sooner or later. Speaking of which, when do you think we'll go back?"

"I don't know. The Wormhole is stable, so it won't just collapse by itself."

Picard's commbadge chirped. He tapped it. "Picard here."

"Sir," Data's voice came over the comm. "A small ship has just come into sensor range. It is not Slim's ship, but is similar to a shuttlecraft. The Gunga is heading towards it.

"On my way." Picard answered, stood up and walked back onto the Bridge, Riker following.

"Follow the Gunga." Picard ordered, sitting down in the centre chair.

"Sir, the Gunga is opening fire on the smaller ship!" Burke reported.

"Shields up. Hail the Gunga." Riker commanded.

"On screen." Burke reported.

The tall, pink-skinned captain appeared on the screen.

"Why are you attacking the smaller ship?" Picard demanded.

"They are known collaborators with Slim Cognito." The officer replied. "We have been trying to catch them for months."

"Captain," Burke reported. "The smaller vessel is firing on us!"

Picard tensed himself, bracing for the impact. But he felt nothing.

"Status?" Riker demanded.

"Shields have dropped in point three percent." Burke said in amazement.

"Hail them."

"They are not responding. They are coming around for another attack."

This time Picard felt a slight shake in his chair.

"Shields are down to ninety-seven percent."

"Drop shields to ten percent. Vent some plasma from the warp coils, make it look like they hit us bad." Picard ordered. "Open fire on the smaller ship, absolute minimum phaser power.

A few moments passed. Then...

"Captain! The ship is about to explode!"

"Can you detect any life-forms?" Picard demanded.

"Yes sir. One, and a robot."

"Beam them out of there!"

Seconds later, the small ship exploded on screen.

Riker tapped his commbadge. "Transporter room, do you have them?"

"Yes sir."

"We're on our way."

Picard, Data and a security officer walked through the Transporter room doors, to see a furry humanoid in a green and black suit holding a large, primitive looking gun. He was aiming it right at the Transporter chief.

"My name is Captain Jean-Luc Picard." Picard began. "You are on board the..."

"Auf den la Schu! Klen dangah hoe!" The furry alien interrupted.

"Data?" Picard asked.

"I believe our Universal Translators are not functioning because their language is completely different to ours. The other alien languages were more similar to Federation Standard."

"Flen die glan Schu!" The alien yelled, tightening his finger on the trigger of his gun.

Suddenly, the creature's backpack jumped onto the floor, and turned into a small robot.

"I apologize for my companion's rudeness." It said politely. "It is in his specie's instinct."

Then, to the alien, "Fla Schu! Ratchet. Fla Schu!"

The alien put his weapon down slowly, and put it behind his back. The weapon was gone when he showed his hand again.

"Fascinating." Data observed.

"Allow me to introduce ourselves." The robot continued. "My name is Clank, and this is my associate, Ratchet."

"Glen how." The alien muttered.

Picard's commbadge chirped. He tapped it. "Picard here."

"Sir, the Gunga wishes us to transport the prisoners directly to their ship."

Ratchet suddenly tensed up in alarm.

"Dan schlie Klan du Macht! Du arrest!"

"Wait." Picard interrupted. "Did you just say arrest?"

"They Glanfen arrest us!"

"The Universal Translators are beginning to translate properly." Data explained.

"They'll send us to prison!" Ratchet practically shouted.

"Ratchet, it is okay." The robot assured him. He then faced Picard. Captain Picard, we request asylum."

"We will be happy to grant you asylum." Picard said. "After a formal trial has taken place."


	3. Trial and Error

I now own the whole of Disney, Fox and Nickelodeon, but Insomniac is still beyond my grasp. (Just kidding)

Three: Trial and Error 

In the mess hall on the Enterprise, a proper court had been arranged. Captain Picard was standing behind a podium on a raised platform; Ratchet and Clank were standing behind the bar, trapped by a forcefield, and most of the senior staff and the captain of the Gunga made up the jury, sitting on chairs in the middle of the hall.

"Captain," the captain of the Gunga protested. "I really don't see why you should be the one to judge at this trial. We do not recognize your Federation, and I am perfectly capable of…"

"The prisoners have requested asylum, and this trial is analysing their request, not their crimes. If they are denied asylum, then they will be turned over to you, and you may do with them as you wish. We are willing to abide by your rules in this matter, as long as you respect ours. Now, I hereby call this trial to order. The accused, please stand."

Ratchet rose from his seat, and Clank hopped up onto the bar.

"Ratchet, Clank, how do you plead?"

"We plead innocent." Ratchet stated, simply. "We admit we traded with Slim, but we had no idea he was using stolen…"

"That's probably what he told you to say if you were caught." The Gunga captain interrupted.

"We work for Megacorp, we are on an important mission to retrieve one of its most important experiments." Ratchet continued.

"A likely story. I would imagine two highly trained Megacorp Commandos would be travelling in something better than a class-15 Faltron cruiser."

"It was all they could spare. Megacorp is a very busy company."

"Order!" Picard interrupted. "Now, captain. What is your evidence for arresting these two?" The Gunga captain rose from his seat.

"The robot, I suspect is innocent. He has probably been programmed to go along with this character. Ratchet, however…"

Picard's commbadge chirruped. He held up his hand to stop the captain and tapped it.

"Picard here."

"Sir," Ensign Burke's voice floated over the comm channel. "A large ship has just arrived in the area, and is demanding to know what we have done with their spacecraft. The captain's name is Abercrombie Fizzwidget."

"That's him!" Ratchet cried. "He'll explain everything. He's the chairman of Megacorp, and the one who hired us to get the experiment back."

"Put him through down here." Picard ordered, and turned to a screen on the wall of the mess hall. An image of an old, large man dressed in a blue suit with a large letter M on his bow tie.

"My name is Abercrombie Fizzwidget, and I demand to know what you have done with our ship."

"Mr Fizzwidget, sir." The Gunga captain stood up and snapped to attention immediately.

"This man has arrested us on the charges of criminal activities." Ratchet explained. "I assure you, this is not true."

"I have been in continuous contact with Mr Cognito, and he has explanatoried everything. He has been a invaluable asset to Megacorp in the past years, so we hereby clear him of all charges."

"Mr Fizzwidget," The Gunga captain protested. "He has been known to be involved in criminal activities. He has dealt with illegal weaponry, ship upgrades…" A stern look from Mr Fizzwidget shut him up.

"As the charges from Mr Cognito have been released, I believe the charges against Ratchet and Clank are instratified. I demand their safe return and that of any property you have confisclilated."

"Mr Fizzwidget," Clank spoke up. "We have requested asylum with these people, and we believe they are able to help us, as they have much superior weaponry."

"I'm afraid not." Picard said. "Our Prime Directive forbids us to interfere with any affairs of other cultures, space-faring or not."

"We would be infinitively gratified if you would lend your invaluable assistance in our predicament." Fizzwidget cut in. "We would give you anything you desire, as long as it is within the boundarials of our business corporation."

"No," Picard said sternly. "Our laws are quite clear on that matter."

"Could you at least give us a small ship, seeing as ours was destroyed?" Ratchet asked.

"We can give you a shuttlecraft, but we will have to extract any Federation technology." Riker replied. "Don't worry, it'll still reach impulse, and you'll be able to defend yourselves."

"Thank you." Clank turned to Fizzwidget. "I believe everything is in order. We are just on our way to the Thugs for Less Asteroid base; we believe that is where the criminal is meeting with them.

"Excellent, I'll leave you two gentlemen to it." Fizzwidget reached for a control on his ship.

"Um, Mr Fizzwidget," Ratchet cut in. "We could use your help."

"Oh, I'm sorry boys, but I, er, have an important business meeting to go to. Some people on Endako don't think our technology trade is at a fair price." Fizzwidget disappeared off the screen.

"Well then, as you have been cleared of all charges, I believe this trial is over." Picard stepped of the podium, and the jury stood up and left. Riker released Ratchet and Clank from the bar. The Gunga Captain shot Picard a nasty look, but left. Ratchet turned to Picard.

"Captain, if you don't mind, we would like to see our ship now, we are in a bit of a hurry. The criminal we are after has stolen a top-secret experiment from Megacorp, and we need to find him as quickly as possible."

"It will take some time to extract the technology from the shuttlecraft, but we can take you to the base. In the meantime, you are welcome to enjoy our hospitality. Mr Data,"

Data, who was about to leave, paused and turned to look at Picard.

"I would like you to give our guests a tour of the ship. I'm sure they will be interested to see the technology on our ship. Just don't let them see Engineering or weaponry."

Data nodded, and ushered Ratchet and Clank out the door.

"So, I heard you gave Slim some holographic technology. It seems a lot more advanced than our holograms." Ratchet said.

"Yes," Data replied. "This ship has numerous Holodecks, and can produce environments, characters, and various other things. Here," Data paused outside some large doors. "This is one. Computer, run Data program 3"

"Program ready." The Computer replied. "Enter when ready." Data walked through the doors as they opened, and Ratchet and Clank followed him. Ratchet stood in the doorway, amazed at the sight he saw. It was a large office, filled with bookcases, desks, all which seemed to hold various bits of notepaper, and strange beakers of liquids.

"This is a program of a famous Earth character, Sherlock Holmes." Data explained. "He is a detective who solves various mysteries, mostly murders, using amazing powers of logic and deduction."

"This… how did you do it?" Ratchet breathed.

"It is quite simple really," Clank cut in. "I have seen this technology once on Pologratis III. They use particles of matter stored in buffers, and move them around to recreate…"

"Okay, maybe I don't want to know."

There was a knock on the office door. Data quickly grabbed a hat and dressing gown from one of the tables and put them on, and stuffed a pipe in his mouth.

"Come." He said. The door opened, and three men entered, holding rather large pistols.

"The game's up, Holmes." The smaller one hissed. "I know what you did to my wife, and you're not going to get away with it." Ratchet reached behind his back, but the largest thug pointed his gun at him.

"What's this? Did you teach your cat to stand up and wear clothes?"

"Just shoot it." The other one urged. "It's only a kitty."

The thug fired his gun… and the bullet went straight through Ratchet.

"Whoa! That's freaky!" The thug stumbled backwards. Ratchet drew his gun, and fired some energy blasts at the thug. He vaporised.

"Warning. Weapons fire in Holodeck 2." The computer rang out. The doors opened, and three security officers burst in, pointing their phasers at Ratchet. He raised his gun.

"Stop!" Data jumped in between them. "It was a misunderstanding. He was trying to shoot a Holodeck character.

"Who're these guys?" The thug began to point his gun at the officers. Data pressed a control panel, and the figures faded and disappeared. Ratchet holstered his weapon.

"Sorry." He said, sheepishly. Data's commbadge chirped.

"Data, what the hell is going on down there?" Picard's voice rang out.

"A misunderstanding in the Holodeck, sir. Ratchet though one of the characters was real." Data explained.

"I'm afraid we'll need your weapon." One of the security officers said to Ratchet.

"What, all of them? Okay." Ratchet began to take out his weapons. Eventually, there was a large pile on the floor.

"Uh… do you really need all those?" Another security guard asked.

"It's a dangerous Galaxy." Ratchet replied.

"You must need a tremendous amount of energy for a portable buffer that can hold that amount of weapons." Data remarked.

"Oh, this? That's nothing. I've still got my gadgets, uniforms, boots…"

"What he means," Clank hastily cut in. "Is that he has many more gadgets, but none of them could be used to harm people. They are simply for removing or getting past obstacles."

"Mr Data to the bridge." Picard's voice rang out again. "Ratchet and Clank, I think you'd better come too."

"This should be interesting." Ratchet walked out the door, followed by Data and Clank.


	4. Unnecassery force

I hate disclaimers. Okay, I know nothing. I mean own nothing.

Four: Unnecessary force 

Ratchet, Clank and Data rushed out of the turbolift onto the Bridge as the klaxons of Red Alert sounded around them. Data hurried to his post, while Ratchet and Clank stood by the weapon's console.

"Sensors have picked up three Dominion warships coming through the wormhole. We are moving to intercept." Riker turned to Ratchet.

"Ratchet, could you call on any ships in this area to assist us?"

"I could send a transmission," Ratchet replied. "But if they have firepower similar to yours, we would be no match."

"Captain," Burke spoke up. "Might I make a suggestion?"

"Go ahead, Ensign."

"The Enterprise is equipped with a prototype Starfleet Fighter." Burke continued. "It hasn't been used in combat yet, but all the simulations are positive. As these two seem to have experience in fighters, I suggest that they pilot the fighter to assist us."

Picard thought it over, and finally nodded. "Good plan. Please escort Ratchet and Clank to the shuttlebay, and accompany them on the fighter to instruct them on its operations."

Burke nodded smartly, and led Ratchet and Clank back into the turbolift. Riker turned to Picard.

"I was not aware of any Starfleet Fighter."

"It's a simple prototype, like the Defiant." Picard explained. Starfleet Command wanted us to test it to see if it could be used against the Dominion."

"Another battle ship?" Riker asked, incredulously. "This war is changing the Federation. Starfleet isn't an organization of exploration anymore. It's an army."

Picard nodded. "I agree, number one. But if we don't defeat the Dominion, there won't be anything left of the Federation."

"But what about after the war?"

Picard sighed. Riker was right. Some officers at Starfleet would not want to give up their power after the war, which could cause civil battles in the Federation.

"I suppose we'll worry about that when we come to it." Picard sighed again. What if the Federation was changing? What if they ended up like the Dominion themselves?

Inside the fighter, Burke was showing Ratchet the controls.

"Now, this accelerates the ship, and this is the primary firing system." He explained. "The phasers still overheat when used too much, so go easy on them."

Ratchet nodded, and pointed to the display on one of the screens.

"And are these the shields?"

Burke smiled. "You catch on quick."

"I used to pilot things like this back home. The weapon power is the only main difference."

"Picard to shuttlebay. We are coming out of warp and are intercepting the Dominion ships. Prepare for launch. Picard out."

Burke tensed up. "This is it."

"Haven't you ever done anything like this before?" Ratchet asked.

Burke ignored him and started fiddling about with the thruster controls. As the hangar doors opened, he got them off the deck and out into space.

"Right, Ratchet," Burke instructed Ratchet. "You pilot the ship, and I'll handle the weapons. Clank, you keep an eye on the shield power."

"Aye, sir." Clank replied, and obediently shut one eye and swivelled over to look at the shield console.

Suddenly, the ship was rocked by a blast from one of the Dominion ships.

"Here we go." Burke tensed up again. "Ratchet do your best to keep out of their line of fire, I'll handle the weapons." The ship was rocked again.

"Shields down to 87." Clank reported.

"Go, Ratchet, go!"

Ratchet sped off between two warships, dodging their fire. One began to follow them, while the other two went after the Enterprise.

"There's one on our tail!" Burke shouted.

"I can't shake them!" Ratchet replied.

The Dominion ship dodged their fire whilst keeping in line with them, and matched their every move.

"Wait… Turn around, head straight for them!" Burke shouted suddenly.

"Are you crazy? We'll crash!"

"Let me take care of that. Do it!"

Ratchet pulled the craft around, and set a collision course for the Dominion ship. They were getting closer… 500 metres… 300… 100…

"Hurry up!" Ratchet yelled.

"Keep going!" Burke replied.

"They are at 33 metres and counting!" Clank reported.

"NOW!" Burke bellowed, and launched a torpedo. Ratchet pulled up just in time, and the Dominion ship exploded in a starburst of colour.

"That was some good firing." Ratchet commented.

"Well, I…" A Dominion Torpedo smashing into their hull cut Burke short.

"_Warning! Warning! Hull Breach in Transporter bay!_" The Computer warned them.

"Activate the Bulkheads!" Burke ordered Clank, who busied himself with the keypad. Two large doors shut them off from the back of the craft.

"Shields at 42." Clank reported.

"Hurry, there's still two to go!" Ratchet shouted.

Another shot rocked the entire fighter, and the emergency lights came on. Steam began to vent from the back of the ship.

"Shields at 23!" Clank cried.

"You keep piloting. Avoid as much fire as you can." Burke barked at Ratchet. "I'll go back and see what I can do." So saying, he jumped up from his seat and made his way to the back of the ship and ripped a compartment open. Ratchet had to use all his piloting skills to avoid Dominion fire.

An explosion from the back of the ship sent shudders through the hull of the fighter. The lights came back on.

"Good work, Burke!" Ratchet called, and turned smiling to see the officer. The smile was quickly wiped off his face when he saw Burke's body limp on the floor next to the panel, blood dripping down his forehead. Ratchet ran to him, and Clank hopped down from his seat to inspect him. Ratchet held Burke's head up, and wiped away some of the blood. He checked for a pulse and felt his forehead.

"It's no use, Ratchet." Clank said, sadly. "He's dead."

Suddenly, a hit form one of the fighters pummelled the ship, and sent Ratchet sprawling. He quickly got up and returned to the conn, but it was too late. The Dominion fighter on screen was almost upon them.

Clank checked his console. "Shields have failed." He reported, dismally.

Ratchet struggled to control the ship, but to no avail. The fighter was getting closer, closer…

It was suddenly blown to pieces, and the Enterprise flew past triumphantly. Ratchet let out a breath of relief and activated the comm link.

"Ratchet to Enterprise. Thanks, you saved our butts."

"No problem." Riker replied. "Are you all alright?"

"Well…" Ratchet turned to Clank.

"It's Burke." Clank filled in. "He… didn't make it."

There was a pause on the other end. "I see." Riker finally acknowledged. "We'll beam him to sickbay, and then tow you in."

"Alright. Ratchet out." Ratchet stood back, and watched Burke's body disappear in a blue haze.

"There was nothing we could have done." Clank reassured Ratchet. "He saved us. You couldn't have saved him."

"I know, but still…" Ratchet stared sadly at the space where Burke's body had fallen.


	5. Treachery

Don't you people know who I am? You should _give_ me your companies. I'd do a much better job than you with "Buffy" and "Stargate". At the moment, however, I have none of those corporate empires. I am waiting for them to flood in.

**Five: Treachery**

"Richard Burke was a model officer," Captain Picard said to the crowd gathered in the mess hall. All were in their dress uniform, and Ratchet and Clank stood amongst the crowd with solemn looks on their faces.

"He was loyal to his Captain and his ship, he always knew the meaning of duty, and he saved us all when he sacrificed himself. Burke was kind, true, just and above all strong in his duty. These are hard times, and we must all draw upon these virtues Ensign Burke so strongly displayed. We will remember you, Richard."

A whistle came from the corner of the room, as Riker signalled the release of the canister holding Burke. Everyone turned towards the window and the canister was launched. It's thrusters propelling it far into space; they watched it until it was just a speck among the distant stars.

Everyone began talking among themselves, in low, solemn voices. Ratchet and Clank approached Captain Picard.

"Captain," Ratchet began awkwardly. "We… we just want to say we're sorry. I still feel it was kinda our fault Burke died."

"Ratchet, it was not your fault." Picard assured him. "Burke died to save us all, and you fought off the last Dominion Fighter. If it wasn't for you, we could all have died."

Ratchet looked up at Picard and smiled. "I'm sure you need some rest. Commander Data will show you to your quarters, and we'll contact you when the shuttlecraft it ready for launch."

Ratchet nodded his appreciation, and Picard went over to the bar to talk to Commander Riker.

"Now," Clank turned back to Ratchet. "Should we start what we discussed?"

"I don't know." Ratchet replied. "They have been kind to us, it doesn't seem fair to use them like this."

"We'll only be using a small portion of the ships systems. After that, we'll leave on the shuttlecraft and they'll never know."

"I still don't like it. It feels like betraying their trust."

"Do you want to find the thief or not?" Clank retorted. Ratchet thought for a moment and finally nodded.

"Alright, but I still don't like it."

They hurried out of the mess hall purposefully, and into the corridor.

In Engineering, Geordie LaForge was bent over a console trying to recalibrate the quantum flux of the warp drive. He had got some strange readings when they went through the wormhole the first time, and he had to be sure going back again was harmless.

"Geordie, you've been working for hours." A female voice broke his concentration. "I'm sure the Enterprise will survive going back."

"I need to check for stellar pollution. If the warp drive gives out too much plasma, then the wormhole could collapse over the Enterprise, destroying it."

"There's only a small chance of that. C'mon, you look tired."

Lieutenant Mackley slid her arms around Geordie and began kissing his neck.

"Well," Geordie stood up from his console and turned to face her. "I suppose I could use a little break."

She smiled. "There's no one else here. And there won't be for a couple of hours."

Geordie smiled and they kissed. She slid her hand up his shirt and…

"Geordie?"

They looked up to see Data by the entrance holding a pad.

"Um… Data, I'm kind of busy right now." Geordie hissed.

"No," Mackley unwrapped herself from him. "Maybe I should go."

She strode out past Data and into the turbolift. Geordie sighed as he watched her go.

"Data, we've talked about this before."

"I know, I am not to interrupt you whilst you are 'getting it on'."

Geordie sighed again. "I'm not getting any younger."

"On the contrary, I have seen a prominent decrease in wrinkles and…"

"Data," Geordie interrupted before he could go on about how young Geordie was for his age. "What is it?"

"I have detected some strange readings from the bridge. I thought at first they were an internal sensor malfunction, but they are working in perfect order."

"Hmm," Geordie took the pad and studied the readings. "Looks like a problem with one of the manifold injectors. We'd better take a look at it." Geordie went to one of the Jeffries tubes and climbed in, Data following.

They slid along to the point where the malfunction had been detected. Geordie opened a panel and scanned the wires inside with a tricorder.

"It looks like someone's manually rewired this thing. There weren't any maintenance crews in operation here were there?"

"I was not informed of any."

"It's pretty simple to fix. I'll just reintegrate this and…" Geordie reached in and put one of the wires back in its plug. "There we go."

Data scanned his tricorder ahead for a moment.

"There appears to be another malfunction in section 31a."

"Another one?"

Geordie replaced the panel and crawled after Data, who had already started on his way.

They reached a door in the tube. Geordie entered a command in to the control panel and the door slid open.

Behind the door, Ratchet and Clank were rewiring one of the panels. They turned to see Geordie and Data and stared at them for a moment, in shock. Before any of them could think, Ratchet pulled something out of his buffer that looked very much like a gun, and sent electric charges through Data with it. Geordie immediately bent down over Data, checking him over. By the time he looked up, Ratchet and Clank were gone. He tapped his comm badge.

"LaForge to Security, Ratchet and Clank are on the run. Capture them!"

Ratchet and Clank ran through the corridors, round corners, through doors and around people.

"I told you this was a bad idea." Ratchet panted.

"How was I to know they had such accurate sensors?"

Suddenly, a forcefield appeared out of nowhere to block their path. They tried going a different way, but another forcefield erected. Their way was completely blocked. Security teams appeared from the each ends of the corridors and pointed their phasers at them. Ratchet shot a burst of electricity from his gun at the forcefield and it overloaded. He drew another weapon and a grappling hook shot out and latched onto the bulkhead above the security guard's heads, and Ratchet used this to swing him and Clank over the security guards and past them. They dodged the phaser fire, and Ratchet (slipping on his Gravity Boots) ran up and along the wall. The security teams raced after them.

Ratchet reached a door and slipped inside. He grabbed a helmet from the cubicle at the side of the room and pulled it on. Clank hanging onto his back, he opened a hatch in the bulkhead and climbed out.

On the bridge, Picard was monitoring the escapees.

"Where are they now?"

"Captain… you're not going to believe this. They're on the deck of the ship!"

"Outside the ship?" Riker exclaimed "Are they mad?"

"Let's see them."

The view on the main screen changed to the deck of the ship. Sure enough, Ratchet was trudging along the deck, Clank strapped to his back.

"Beam them to the brig!" Picard ordered. The figures on screen dematerialised in a shimmer of blue light. Picard stood up and headed towards the turbolift.

"It's time I had a chat with our guests."


	6. Ruminations

Don't own anything. Don't know anything. I am saying this of my own free will.

Six: Ruminations 

Ratchet and Clank sat in the brig, contemplating their situation.

"I knew we shouldn't have done it." Ratchet complained. "They were helping us! We could have just figured out where the thief was by ourselves. By the time we get ourselves out of this it might be too late."

"You went along with it, Ratchet." Clank retorted. "It wasn't _completely_ my idea."

"Oh, so now it's _my_ fault we're stuck in here?"

"You're the one who forgot to check their security protocols."

"Yeah, well you're the one who…"

"You two in there!" The guard outside called in. "Pipe down! The captain's coming down!"

Ratchet sighed. Now they were for it. Captain Picard would want an explanation, but he wouldn't listen. He didn't understand the seriousness of the situation. His 'Prime Directive' told him to just sit back and watch other civilisations destroy themselves.

Picard strode in and walked right up to the forcefield. So close his nose almost got caught in the electricity.

"Right. Now I want an explanation." He demanded. "What the hell do you think you were doing?"

"We were only trying to…"

"I don't want to hear it." Picard interrupted.

"But you just…"

"No!" He began pacing up and down in front of the cell. "We were helping you. We were giving you a ship, we had rescued you from the authorities, and this is how you repay us? By sabotaging our ship?"

"We weren't trying to sabotage the _Enterprise_ Captain." Clank cut in. "We were only trying to use your sensors to locate a the criminal we were in pursuit of before we encountered you."

"I already explained to you, we cannot allow members of an inferior civilisation to use our technology."

"So now we're an inferior race?" Ratchet stood up and faced Captain Picard through the forcefield. "You talk of your moral standards, but every species you come across who isn't quite as developed as you are is automatically inferior? You can't even give them a helping hand when they need it? I've checked your history database. The Vulcans 'interfered' with your 'natural progress' after Cochrane's warp flight."

"After a certain point, it is acceptable to…"

"Hypocrisy! That's what it is. Hypocrisy! You and your Federation parade around your galaxy poking and prodding into every little system in the name of exploration and any other conflict you find, a war that you can help the right side with you pass over, letting evil prevail in those civilisations. At least in my galaxy we know what is right, and don't lord over other species we come across with lardy-da, hoity-toity, stiff upper lip, bureaucratic nonsense!"

Picard was fuming. Ratchet could see a vain on his temple throbbing, giving him the look of a bruised potato.

"We will prepare your ship," He said, so quietly it was almost whispering. "And see you on your way once repairs have finished. You shall remain here until that time."

Picard span on his heel and strode out the door. Ratchet turned and began to pace the cell.

"That pompous… miserable old… Who does he think he is? Locking us up in here as if he's all that."

"He is the captain of this ship," Clank reminded him. "And that gives him the right to lock up anyone he considers to be a threat to his ship or his crew."

"A threat? All we were trying to do was use the sensors for a few minutes! It was hardly sabotage."

"But you did seem to injure that Lieutenant Data. It was slightly rash of you to electrocute him."

Ratchet sat down on the bench again and covered his face with his hands.

"Oh, Clank. What have I gotten us into now?"

Picard positioned himself, ready to launch himself forward at the slightest sound. He tensed his legs, lowered his body and prepared to spring.

BANG! There was the starting pistol. Picard launched himself forward, focusing on the finishing line a hundred metres ahead of him. The other men racing against him were good, but Picard had the discipline of a trained marathon runner. He had only recently taken up an interest in sprinting, but it did have a satisfactory stress-releasing quality. As his anger against the stubbornness of Ratchet burned within him, he channelled it into his speed, flying forwards towards the finish line. He was racing forward. He leant forward to reduce the air-resistance. He was going faster, faster…

"Captain Picard?"

The track around him evaporated, and Picard stopped himself, almost colliding with the figure of Deanna Troi.

"Deanna." He panted, suddenly very aware of the flimsy running suit he was in.

"I heard what happened in the brig, and I wondered if you were okay."

"Oh, oh no. I'm fine. Just fine, thank you."

"Well, I'm glad to hear…"

"The arrogant, rude little rebels!" Picard began pacing the holodeck. "Do you know what they said? They said that the Federation was bureaucratic and hypocritical!"

"Well, try to look at it from their point of view." Deanna said, calmly. "Did you call them primitive?"

"I said that they were inferior! If they can't accept that simple fact, then that just makes them…" Picard stopped, struggling to think of a word that would encompass his feelings for the two prisoners that he could say in the presence of a female commanding officer.

"Captain, I know what the Federation means to you. I know you feel hurt when it comes under verbal attack, but you've negotiated with races with unreasonable views about us before. What made you so angry this time?"

"I don't know, Deanna." Picard sighed. "Maybe it's the stress of the war. Maybe it's the fact that we were so close to finding an ally that could help us against the Dominion, and instead we found… them."

"Captain," Troi soothed. "It's perfectly natural for them to be a little upset. You did just lock them up. Maybe they're not used to this sort of corporate punishment."

Picard sighed again. "I call myself the Captain of the Flagship of the Federation and I get this upset over a simple difference of opinion?" He turned to Deanna. "You know, I've seriously been thinking of retiring lately."

Deanna smiled. "Maybe you should. Or at least take a break. You've been under a lot of stress lately."

Picard smiled back. "Thank you, Deanna." He turned and walked out of the Holodeck, leaving Deanna standing there. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She was getting older, too. The war was affecting everyone. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea putting the idea of rest and relaxation in the Captain's head, she thought. In these dark times, Starfleet needs every man it has.


	7. Stowaway

I don't need your stupid companies! I'll make my own movie empire. Purple Emu productions…

Don't own any of these characters, except for Tess Burke; my own creation. COPYRIGHT!

Seven: Stowaway 

"Picard to brig, bring Ratchet and Clank to Shuttlebay 2. Their transport is ready."

The officer guarding them de-activated the forcefield and led the prisoners out into the corridor. Ratchet and Clank marched on ahead of their escort silently, stubbornly refusing to look at each other. Crewmen stared at the strange sight of a security officer pointing a phaser at a furry, cat-like alien and a small robot.

They entered the shuttlebay, where Captain Picard and Riker were waiting by one of the shuttles.

"We wish you a safe trip to wherever you're headed," Riker told them. "And… watch your backs."

"Thanks Commander." Ratchet shook his hand and turned to Picard, who stood tensely, waiting for them to depart.

"Captain… I just want to apologize for all the trouble we've caused." Picard relaxed slightly.

"Apology accepted. And I thank you for aiding us with the Dominion ships."

Ratchet smiled and shook his hand. All things considered, he would not forget this meeting with the Enterprise. Commanders LaForge and Data emerged from the shuttlecraft, holding repair cases.

"Everything's set, Captain." LaForge reported. "All of their gear's on board. They can go whenever they're ready."

Ratchet nodded his thanks to them and he and Clank went into the craft.

"Farewell." Data called out to them as the door of the shuttlecraft closed.

"Wow." Clank commented as they took their seats at the consoles. "Roomy."

The doors of the shuttlebay opened ahead of them, and Ratchet smoothly piloted the ship out. He moved them away from the ship, and looked back as the Enterprise propelled itself forward and disappeared in a flash of light.

"Well, then. Where to now?" Clank asked.

Ratchet was about to suggest the forest moon of Galafrey, when he was suddenly knocked out of his seat. He sprang to his feet, and found himself facing a young girl, with bushy brown air and fire in her eyes.

"Murderer!" She screamed, and threw another punch at him. Ratchet ducked and rolled to the back of the ship, grabbing one of the guns out of the bag Geordie had prepared for them. The girl stopped her approach towards him, but she was still livid with anger.

"You killed my brother!" She yelled, glaring with madness at Ratchet. "You killed him! I know it! You killed him during the fight with the Dominion!"

"Whoa, what are you talking about?" Ratchet asked, confused.

"Richard!" She screamed. "You don't even remember him! He saved your live and you don't even have the decency to remember his name!"

"Now, miss," Clank tried to reason with her. "The death of Ensign Burke was entirely unanticipated. We are as grieved as…" He stopped, due to the fact that the girl had flung him into a bulkhead.

"Hey! You leave him alone!" Ratchet, still pointing the gun at her, went over to Clank. "Are you alright?"

Clank sat up, dizzy, but "Operating within normal parameters."

"Now, girly," Ratchet turned his attention back to the vengeful stowaway. "We're going to take you back to the Enterprise, and return you to your family."

"No!" She was suddenly fearful. "You can't take me back there! They'll send me back to Earth with my aunt and uncle! I came to the Enterprise with Richard to get away from them!"

"I'm sorry, but you have to go back." Ratchet said, sympathetically. "We can't take you with us. It's too dangerous for children."

"I can take care of myself!" She replied, defiantly.

"We know that much." Clank muttered, rubbing his head.

"Just give me one of your phasers and I'll be fine." She continued. "Besides, I can help you. I heard you were looking for a thief. I'm the best at Gondola's Quest in my class, I could help you find him."

"No, I'm sorry, but I have to return you to Enterprise. We've already sabotaged their ship, what'll Picard think when he finds out we've kidnapped one of his crew? He'll come after us all guns blazing!"

The lively young teenager sat down on one of the benches. Ratchet put his gun in his buffer, and knelt down next to her. "Now then," He said, comfortingly. "What's your name?"

"Tess." She muttered. "Tess Burke."

"Well then Tess, you stay back here and we'll take us back to Enterprise." So saying, Ratchet stood up and returned to his console and set a course to follow Picard's ship.

The journey to the wormhole took hours. "It would've been useful if they'd let us some of those warp engines." Ratchet thought. Clank tried in vain to interest Tess in a logic game, but she sat sulkily in the back, ignoring all attempts at conversation.

When they finally arrived at the wormhole, Tess was trying one final tactic.

"_Please_ don't make me go back there! I'll do _anything_! Just don't make me go back to Earth!"

"Look, if you just talk to Captain Picard I'm sure he'll be able to arrange something with your family. If you really don't want to go back with them I'm sure he won't let you."

"You don't understand. My aunt and uncle would do anything to get their hands on me. You see…" She leaned in near Ratchet as if afraid of being overheard on the small craft. "They work for a criminal organization. They used to get me to sneak into places for them to steal stuff. Computer memory, data chips, you name it. They even got me to hack into a Bolian's account from inside his quarters once!"

"Well then, report them."

"I can't do that! They'll get me back before I even opened my mouth. They won't let me see daylight again. Please, listen to me!"

"Look," Ratchet looked at her sternly. "I understand this could be hard for you, but you need to sort this out with Captain Picard. We can't help you." His voice softened slightly. "I'm sorry."

Tess looked at him for a while, and then wrapped her arms around Ratchet and began to sob. Ratchet held her for a while until she lifted her head off his shoulder to look at him.

"N-now Richard's gone and I h-have to go back t-to them it's all g-gone wrong!" Ratchet hugged her again, and they stayed there for a few minutes, Clank concentrating on flying the shuttlecraft. Ratchet lifted her head up and looked at her, sympathetically.

"Now, listen to me. I am going to come with you to speak to Captain Picard. I'm going to stay with you until this whole episode has sorted itself out. I will take care of you."

"Uh… Ratchet?" Clank coughed. "What about our mission? We have to find the thief."

"I'm sure Mr Fizzwidget will understand. After all, she needs us." He turned back to Tess and smiled at her. She wiped away a tear and squeezed his hand.

"Thank you." She whispered.

The shuttlecraft rocked slightly as they entered the wormhole. Ratchet went back to his console and Tess stood behind his chair.

"Shields stable?" Ratchet asked.

"Check." Clank replied.

"Engines running?"

"Smoothly."

"It's so beautiful." Tess breathed, looking out at the inside of the wormhole through the view screen. The spheres and swirls, white and faded blue, Ratchet expertly piloting through towards the distant end at the other side. She stared in wonder at the sight, startled at the reality of it. For the few minutes they flew in silence, awed at the wonders around them. They were almost disappointed to exit at the other end, when the opening burst outward, like a flower.

As they floated through into normal space, they were greeted with a strange sight. Three large ships were positioned around the wormhole, yellow and blocky, shaped slightly like a snake. The screen flickered and an alien face appeared, roughly humanoid, but with pale scaly skin, and ridged arches connecting the shoulders to the top of his neck. His greasy hair was pulled back so far you could see all of his forehead, which was marked with a strange oval dip in the centre.

"This is the Cardassian ship Shadok. We order you to identify yourself!"

Ratchet gulped and turned to Tess, whose eyes were wide in fear.

"Our meeting with the Enterprise might have to wait."


End file.
